Bidspirit auction | Kashot [Keshet] Yehonatan. The original

Kashot [Keshet] Yehonatan. The original edition as printed in Altona - Kashot Yehonatan, eulogies and sermons by Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschütz [Altona, circa 1770?]. Exceptionally rare. After the passing of Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschütz in 1764, his disciple Rabbi Moshe ben [from Kutna] printed the eulogies delivered by his revered teacher. The title Kashot Yehonatan is based on the verse in II Samuel 1:18: ”The bow of Jonathan did not turn back”, where David laments the deaths of Jonathan and Saul. The name was chosen as a play on words involving the name ”Yonatan” and the Hebrew word keshet (bow), symbolizing strength and resolve. The word kashot also alludes to the Talmudic term for sharp questions or dialectics—i.e., insights and halachic analysis. The eulogies were printed in four parts, each comprising 15 leaves, labeled Aleph–Daled. Page headers read “Kashot Yehonatan” (not “Keshet”). The work was published without a title page. In 1784, printers in Lemberg published Chitzei Yehonatan, which includes one sermon and various pilpulim (Talmudic analyses) by Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschütz. The Lemberg printers then combined Chitzei Yehonatan with Keshet Yehonatan, adding a general title page. See: Y. Yudlov, “Title Page Editions in Early Hebrew Books, ” Alei Sefer, vol. 11, 1984, pp. 142–143. The present copy is the original Altona printing. D, D, D, D leaves. 20 cm. Condition: Good. Light age stains. Minor worming. Unbound.